Whether you can’t find your smartphone, or maybe it’s been stolen, you just have to do a single Google Search to find out where it’s at.
We’ve all been there before. You can swear that you just had your smartphone in your pocket or on the tablet, but it isn’t there when you go to reach for it. Most people will keep their device within arm’s reach, 24/7 and yet we still misplace them sometimes. Google has had a special website for locating these lost smartphones and tablet called Android Device Manager, but now there is a much simpler way of doing things.
All you have to do is open up www.Google.com in your web browser, make sure you’re logged into the same Google account that is associated with your smartphone, and then do a single search in Google. So just type in the words. . .
- Find My Phone
. . .into a Google search and then press enter on the keyboard. You should see a screen similar to this pop up above all the actual search results.
You’ll be able to see where your device is on Google Maps and then at the bottom, you’ll see a button that lets you make the phone ring. This is perfect for those times when you know it’s somewhere in your room, but you can’t find it because it fell behind the bed or behind the desk. If things are more serious, and your Android smartphone or tablet was actually stolen, then you can also use this to find out where it is at that time.
To use this feature, you need to have a couple of things enabled on your Android device. Thankfully, this stuff is enabled by default so you most likely won’t have to mess with anything. Firstly, you need to have location services enabled on your smartphone. So dive into the Settings -> Location section of your Android device and make sure you have it set on High Accuracy or Battery Saving mode for the best accuracy. Secondly, you need to have the Android Device Manager feature enabled. Again, this is enabled by default, but to make sure it’s on, go into the Settings, then Security, then Device Administrators and make sure the Android Device Manager option is on.
As you can see here, there’s also a drop down menu at the top right of the map if you have multiple Android devices associated with your Google account. Just tap on the drop down menu and you’ll see a full list of all devices that are attached to the account. You’ll also have a ‘last used’ date under it in case you have multiple devices of the same kind. This can help you distinguish which device you’re selecting from the drop down menu. The process is the same too. You’ll click on a device, it will try and locate it on the map and then give you the choice to make it ring, or just monitor it as Google shows you where it is on the map.
Again, this was all available in the standalone Android Device Manager page that I linked to earlier in this article, but Google has made it much easier by letting users do a simple Google search to Find My Phone. Also, there are other variations that have reportedly worked as well. Things like Where’s My Phone, Find My Android, etc. If you find a special variation that works in this way, please let me know about in the comments section below.
